


Captains that Smell of Salt and Liquor

by BornofFlame



Series: Sanders Sides One Shots [38]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Flying Dutchman, Kind of a prequel?, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27213778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornofFlame/pseuds/BornofFlame
Summary: Remus is young when he runs to the sea to become a sailor.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Sanders Sides One Shots [38]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878814
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	Captains that Smell of Salt and Liquor

**Author's Note:**

> So... Welcome to the Flying Dutchman AU I guess. This is kind of a prequel, but it can be read as a stand alone.  
> enjoy!

Remus is young and cocky when he first takes to the open water. The sea has long called to him from his window in his home of Jamaica, and so the second he’s fifteen, he’s jumping on the first ship that needs an inexperienced half colonizer’s child.

The sea is cruel, she is unforgiving and Remus can see why they call her a female, the wild and reckless way that her moods flip. It’s something that he points out to Virgil one day, as they’re both hanging from the crows nest, watching for a storm.

“I’d love to wed the sea.” Remus blurts out and Virgil, with his dark hair and easy laugh just shrugs.

“You’re fucking weird Remus.”

“Maybe. Do you believe in mermaids?”  
“Every sailor does.” Virgil glances back behind him before turning back to Remus and leaning in as if he had a secret to share. “I’ve kissed one.”

“Really?”  
“Hmmm, they had the most beautiful red tail I’ve ever seen. Sharp teeth too, I still have a scar.”

Remus watches as Virgil tilts his head, displaying a clear bite mark, the scar a pale silvery color.

“Did he speak?”

“He said he’d come back for me one day.” Virgil confirms before turning away. “Get back to work. I don’t want to be thrown off at the next port because I was gossiping with you about mer kisses.”

Virgil is twenty and Remus can’t help but follow him around after the mer story, entranced with the idea of making one of the creatures fall in love with him. Virgil bares the younger well, teaching him everything he can about sailing so the captain of the ship doesn’t have to deal with an over eager teen.

Then one night, the pair are the only two on deck when Virgil’s eyes go glassy and he stares off at the water like it’s the only thing there.

It takes Remus a few seconds to hear it.

Siren song.

Virgil manages to pull them both below deck, but for a week after, Remus’ mentor is sick, and barely eats. Remus is the only one in the crew to make sure that he doesn’t die, as the others are busy running the ship.

After Virgil gets slightly better he gifts Remus a worn coin. 

“Payment for keeping me alive.”

“There’s no need.”

“Keep it.” Virgil insists and Remus begrudgingly tucks the coin away with his things, wondering why the older would give him something like that as if it was the most precious treasure in the world.

A month later Virgil is gone in the middle of the night and Remus can hear two sirens singing.

Rumor has it in the morning that a vengeful crewmate threw the unsuspecting man over, but Remus knows that siren can change their mates to be like them and Virgil had told him that only one siren song had ever tempted him.

He wonders what color Virgil’s tail is. It’s probably purple, or maybe an ink black to match his wild hair.

Years pass, Remus grows from an overeager boy to a hardened first mate, respectful of the sea and her children as he carries cargo across the wide ocean. He grows tired of the monotony and at first chance, he runs from the crew he’s been with for almost seven years and joins a more savage crew, one that robs.

The captain and the first mate of this ship are married. Remus has never met Logan, but his bubbly husband is a great first mate, always leading the crew in songs as they go from destination to destination, only destroying those who are merciless to others.

They’re strange pirates, but he loves it.

Remus is on night watch when he first meets his mer. He’s looking over the side of the boat when the face pops up, scaled halfway and gold eyes glimmering like the dull coin that Virgil gave him years ago.

“Hello fish.” Remus grins as the mer’s eyes widen.

“You seem to think I am real?”

“Well, considering my older brother swam off with a siren, I’d say yes.” Remus calls down casually.

The mer rolls their eyes and dives back under the water and Remus is alone again. When the morning comes, he tells Patton of the golden creature and the first mate nods.

“You are lucky.”

Remus isn’t so sure.

He stays with this crew until he’s thirty, and then when they dock in a small port in Cuba, he’s off again to go and seek out another life.

He stays onshore for about three days and during this time he hears the whispered rumors of a ship whose occupants never age, a ship that only docks once every seven years and that night is tonight.

So he goes to the docks and watches as the ship sails in, beautiful and old, somehow ancient and new at the same time.

They won’t let him board without payment.

Remus pulls out the coin that Virgil gave him fifteen years ago and the first mate sniffs it before looking at him.

“This is siren touched.” He mumbles before pocketing it.

“So I’ve heard.”

“You sell your soul to the ship if you stay with us.” The first mate offers as a warning before stepping aside so that Remus can walk up the gangplank if he choses.

“Perhaps that is my intention.”

“You have a desire to be captain?”  
“Don’t we all?”

“Welcome to the _Flying Dutchman_ I suppose.”

“Thank you.” Remus gives a mocking half bow before boarding.

As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to become captain of the Dutchman. Before Remus can even draw his sword for the duel, the captain kneels, admitting that he was tired and wished to sever his bind to the ship, so that he could finally rest.

The crew likes Remus. He adds a new spice to the job, introduces them to the finest kind of liquor and eventually they realize that for being a ghost ship, their captain is unusually superstitious.

Of course, they’ve never seen the mer that has started to follow the ship around...

**Author's Note:**

> kudos?  
> comments?


End file.
